The Inca Princess
by Templarlady
Summary: This is Azaria's story. To understand who and what Azaria is and what she is going through you will need to have read The Spanish Manuscript and the subsequent stories.
1. Chapter 1

The character of Bill belongs to Charliane Harris and Alan Ball. All other characters originate in my own warped imagination.

**The Inca Princess**

It always worried me a little that I couldn't pinpoint precisely when the pain stopped.

It was as if it had always been with me, a part of me, wound into my being like one of those creepers that grow on the oldest jungle trees. In the same way that you feel that the tree might die and still be held up by the vine, I felt that whatever happened to me, the pain would always be there. That it had come to define me in some way.

But it seems that you can get used to anything. Or at least I can. This new creature that he has made of me. That he made so easily and discarded just as easily.

At first it was a searing agony, when they first took me and placed me in the casket. The mere proximity of so much silver made me feel as though my flesh was on fire and I felt that I surely must die from the pain. The pain of the silver and the torment of the hunger. But I could not. He had explained this to me, and it appeared that he was right since I would not have thought it possible to endure so much agony and still live. This new creature could not die then, but it could suffer. The pain flowed over me like a fiery blanket, taking root in my flesh, in my bones. But after a while, a decade or two, it began to grow less. Or perhaps I was simply becoming used to it.

By now I had long given up hope that they would release me. A hope which had sustained me for the first long years of my imprisonment. My body had grown weaker, so weak that I was now unable to move at all. But it seemed that my mind was unaffected, had even, in fact, grown stronger and was able somehow to block out the pain. To push it to a corner of my mind and wall it off.

The strength to do this had come from the final acceptance that no-one would help me. I had spent many fruitless years hoping, praying that he would rescue me. My Maker, my lover, the man who had told me so often that he loved me. I had come only gradually and reluctantly to the terrible realisation that it had been he who had betrayed me. They had come for me during my daytime sleep and no other knew where I lay but him. Lazlo! I believe that it was this realisation, the acceptance of his terrible betrayal that changed me, enabled me to push the pain away. After that the strength of my mind seemed to wither in the same way as that of my body, as if I no longer wished to survive this horror. And at some point during the passing of the centuries, the pain faded away completely and I was not sufficiently conscious even to realise it.

There was one moment when I woke. One moment when I thought that perhaps I would be freed from this nightmare. The casket was opened and for a brief moment I felt hope. A man leaned over and looked down at me. I made an enormous effort and reached for his hand but something happened, something silver hanging around his neck touched me and I pulled my arm back. The lid closed again and I felt myself falling, falling back into the darkness, no longer even sure that I had not dreamed it.

Then, long after I had given up hope of rescue, he came. William Compton. He found me somehow, found the hidden crypt where I had lain for centuries. The lid of the casket was removed completely and I was aware of people looking in at me. I felt someone take my arm and I began to struggle, fearful that this was the beginning of some new torture. I understand now that they were trying to help me but at the time a wave of panic flooded over me as I felt others reach into the casket and hold me down. There was a sudden sharp pain in my arm and then, I can't quite describe what happened next. It was as if every muscle in my body went into a spasm at once, then I felt warmth and peace flow into me and I relaxed back into sleep, convinced that death had finally come to claim me at last.

However it appeared that I was mistaken. It was some time later, I don't know how long, that I felt my mind awakening again. Felt myself swimming up to the surface. I lay somewhere new, this was more comfortable, and there was no pain, no pain at all. I felt for its familiar touch, probing the corners of my consciousness, but it was gone completely. For a moment I lay absolutely still, fearing to move or even to think, in case this was some dream that I would awaken from. That if I opened my eyes I would see only the darkness. Then I realised that I could hear soft voices, close by, speaking in some unfamiliar language. I was so surprised that I opened my eyes without even thinking about it.

I was lying in a comfortable bed in a white room. I knew immediately that I had never been here before. This was a new place. I turned my head slightly and saw two people watching me. One was a girl. She had long blue/black hair almost the colour of my own and pale grey/blue eyes. I must have looked frightened because she smiled gently and took my hand. She said something which I didn't understand and then I saw him beside her. I knew immediately that he was a vampire, like Lazlo, like me. His dark brown hair stood out against the clear pallor of his skin, but I saw the gentleness and generosity in his brilliant blue eyes and my initial fear of him began to recede. He smiled down at me and reached above my head for a button which hung on a cable above the bed. He pressed the button and in moments the door opened and people began to crowd into the room. I almost panicked but the girl held my hand comfortingly and I began to calm down and the strangers began to examine me.

They told me his name later, the blue eyed vampire. At first I could not understand anything they said to me, but then the man who appeared to be in charge, a tall blond vampire who the others deferred to and was named Ulrich, brought a woman to help care for me. She was human and she spoke my language and also several others. I didn't realise at the time how unusual this was, I had no idea of how long I had slept, that everything I knew, my home, my people, were long gone into the mists of antiquity. I found that, very quickly, I began to make the connections between my language and theirs and soon I could understand them, and they, me.

They sat with me for hours, the blue eyed vampire and the dark haired girl. Talking to me, explaining where I was and how I had got there. How the world had changed while I slept. Others came and went, nurses, doctors, monitoring my recovery. They all seemed wary of me, taking a purely intellectual interest in my recovery, but not these two. He, in particular, seemed truly sympathetic to my situation, his empathy obvious from the pain in his clear blue eyes. The rest of the people, both human and vampire, showed considerable respect to these two, Bill and Alex, and I gradually began to appreciate what they had done for me. How they had learned my story from Ulrich and how Alex had risked her life to collect a copy of the manuscript which had been written by the one man who had seen me in all those centuries.

Brother Diego they called him, Diego Rodrigues. He had come to my land with the Spanish conquistadors and had been persuaded by one of my people to remove the casket to safety. I must admit that I found this ironic since it simply served to prolong my suffering. But Bill and Alex had managed to decipher the clues in the manuscript enabling them to lead Ulrich's team to my resting place and they had even managed to foil Lazlo's attempt to retrieve me. I owed them not only my life, but also my freedom.

Soon I was strong enough to get out of bed and Bill and Alex walked with me around the Authority's headquarters, exploring my new home. But I knew they would not stay for ever. They had their own lives to lead. I spent many hours with Ulrich and his fellow Chancellors answering their questions to the best of my ability. About my life, my suffering and about Lazlo. Ulrich also knew how I felt about Bill and when he came to me and said that Bill had agreed to care for me, as a Maker, as Lazlo should have done, my happiness was complete. We agreed that I would join Bill and Alex in England as soon as Ulrich's physicians thought that I was strong enough. The day could not come soon enough for me. I wished only to learn from him, to become like him, to learn about the world from Alex, but it soon became apparent that my new life was not to be without its difficulties.

It was as though I truly had awakened on a new world. I was stunned when Bill and Alex explained to me gently how long I had slept. I had not really had any conception of time passing and it was bitterly painful at first to realise that everything I knew was gone, for ever. This realisation only served to draw me closer to Bill, since it seemed to me that he was all I had now.

When I was first turned I had tried hard to hold onto my old life. I had stayed with my family, lived almost as I had before, until Lazlo tried to take me from them. But now I realised that I could no longer do this. I had to accept that I was different now, that I was vampire. Bill and Ulrich had tried to explain to me what this meant, answering my endless questions with commendable patience. They taught me that the original Testament, the vampire Bible, stated that vampires were created in the image of God and of the mother Lilith and that humans were created to be food for us, although I could tell that neither Bill nor Ulrich believed this literally. Indeed, both seemed to like and respect humans. Certainly Bill's relationship with Alex would have been frowned apon by the literal reading of the testament.

Bill and Alex left for England after a few weeks but soon Ulrich's physicians told him that I was well enough to leave and he and I travelled to England to meet them. I was a little shy at first but they greeted me like an old friend and I moved into Bill's house with them.

* * *

I had been living with Bill and Alex for about a month when Alex went away for a few weeks. Bill and I were together in the house each night and he began to pay more attention to me since we were constantly in each other's company. I asked him an endless stream of questions about Ulrich and the Authority and about his search for my resting place and he answered them with his usual patience. I was beginning to feel more comfortable in this new life and with him when, one night, I made a terrible and dangerous mistake.

Bill and I were alone in the house and I had been lying in a hot bath, reading for a while. I could hear him moving about downstairs in the lounge, restless, missing Alex. The hot water had relaxed me completely and I stepped out, dried myself and pulled on a silk robe that Bill had given me. As I walked downstairs I could feel the silk sliding over my warm skin with a delicious, smooth sensation, my long hair falling down my back. I stepped into the lounge and Bill turned to look at me. For just a second I thought I saw that look in his eyes that I remembered from Lazlo. The look that said that he wanted me. It was only there for a second but I was sure I saw it.

The memory of what Lazlo had done to me made me shiver with revulsion but somehow, the idea of Bill doing those same things made my flesh quiver with anticipation. I really didn't want to be doing this, but somehow, my body was bypassing any common sense I had.

He stood quite still watching me, his face a blank mask as I slipped the robe from my shoulders and stood naked before him on the rug. I felt his eyes run over my body and my mouth went dry. Bill took a step forward and I tensed slightly as he sank to one knee before me. I had a fraction of a second to wonder what he would do and then he reached forward and picked up the robe. He stood up and held it out to me without a word, watching me, his eyes dark with suppressed anger as I put it back on.

"This is not going to happen Azaria! Ever! Understand that!"

I sagged slightly with relief and relaxed, although there was disappointment in there too. My brain was buzzing with conflicting feelings and emotions as I pulled the robe back on. I fumbled with the sash, trying to avoid looking up into his eyes, but eventually I gave up and glanced upwards. Those brilliant blue eyes were fixed on mine, his head slightly on one side. He raised an eyebrow. "Well? Would you like to tell me what brought that on?" He asked quietly.

"Well, Ulrich said that you would teach me and I thought...I thought perhaps that was why you sent Alex away" I answered haltingly. "So that you could be alone with me."

Bill sat down on the sofa and looked down at the floor. I could see he was struggling to keep a smile off his face. He patted the sofa next to him and I sat down obediently beside him.

He looked at me very seriously. "Firstly, I did not send Alex away" he said. "In fact I would much rather she had not gone, but I understand that there are other things in her life besides me and she needs to have space and time to herself." He reached over and placed two fingers under my chin, turning my head to look at him as I had turned away in embarassment. "Secondly, if I had thought that Ulrich had the slightest intention of me teaching you anything of the kind I would never have agreed to this arrangement in the first place!" He stroked my cheek gently with a long, elegant finger and asked "whatever made you think I would?"

I looked down again, took a deep breath and replied in a small voice "Lazlo always expected me to have sex with him. He said it was normal between a vampire and their maker." Bill's fingers suddenly tightened painfully on my jaw. I looked up into a pair of hard, cold eyes.

"I am not Lazlo!" he hissed. "Do not ever, ever compare me to Lazlo!" I felt tears pricking at my eyes and I realised that they were tears of relief. Bill, however, evidently took them to be tears of pain as he released me instantly and pulled me into his arms. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just...being compared to him...I can't bear that, not from you."

"But I offered myself willingly" I said. "Who would blame you?"

"I would!" he said simply. He hugged me close to him and said "forget Lazlo. Whatever he told you, forget it. I will care for you now." He reached up and gently brushed a lock of hair from my face. "Oh my dear! I do love you Azaria, but not in that way."

I blinked the tears from my eyes and gazed up at him, unsure of my feelings. He was handsome and kind, gentle and loving, my feelings for him were confusing me. My body was telling me that his proximity excited me and yet the memory of what Lazlo had done to me, terrified me. Suddenly something seemed to snap in my mind and I flung myself into his arms and wept with a mixture of fear and relief. Bill simply held me and let me cry in silence. When the sudden storm of tears had passed Bill released me and held me apart from him. "So, are you going to tell me what all that was about?" he asked.

I snuggled into his arms, trying to think of the words to tell him how much he meant to me. "Oh, Bill" I murmured "it's so hard to explain how I feel. When I was changed, I was just a child really. When Lazlo took me I had to grow up, fast. I didn't want to leave my family, my people, but I knew I couldn't be with them in the same way as I had before. I stayed with them as much as I could though, Lazlo glamoured them so that they didn't seem to notice my...difference. The fact that they only saw me at night, that I never changed. That became normal for them. But not for me. I loved my father dearly and yet, somehow I couldn't connect with him any more. I couldn't bear to have him hold me as he used to when I was a child. I felt different, hard, cold." I looked up at Bill. "It's been so long since someone held me like that, like this, just to comfort me. That's all I was looking for really, just some comfort. I'm sorry I...I do love you, as I loved him...but I was just confused."

Bill tightened his grip on me for a moment and dropped a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Then we'll just forget about it shall we?" he whispered.

I gave a little sigh of relief. For a terrible moment I had thought that I had ruined everything, spoiled my relationship with this wonderful man. But he was generous enough to forgive me, to understand.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a few nights later that I woke and found Bill gone. I searched the house for him with no success until I opened the door onto the terrace and saw him sitting on the cane sofa with a bottle of Tru Blood beside him. He turned and smiled at me.

"Come and sit down" he said.

I went over and sat down beside him pulling my feet up underneath me. It was a clear night and I looked up at the stars, marvelling at how different they were from those I remembered from my youth. I turned to Bill thinking that he looked a little lonely tonight. "You miss her, don't you?" I said.

"Yes, I do" he said. "I miss her very much."

For the first time it occurred to me to wonder what effect my presence was having on their relationship. I had simply never thought of this before. When Ulrich had agreed that Bill could take care of me I had been delighted. It was exactly what I wanted. When I had arrived here everything was so new and unusual that I just took it for granted that I would stay with Bill and Alex in his house with them. But now I began to wonder if I was being selfish, only thinking of myself and not of them.

"Am I in the way?" I asked quietly. "I know she loves you very much Bill, I don't want to come between you. I never thought, when I asked Ulrich if you would help me, what a disruptive effect it would have on your life."

Bill laughed gently and reassured me that my presence wasn't a problem. We sat and talked for a while, Bill explained a little about the blood bond between him and Alex, how they could feel each other when they were apart and sense each other's feelings, feel each other's pleasure when they were together.

I loved listening to him talk. Lazlo was the only other vampire I had really known and he was so different. It was such a relief to me to find out that I could follow a different path, that I would not have to become like him. Thinking of Lazlo I began to ask Bill questions about the search he and Alex had undertaken at Ulrich's request. He answered me patiently until Lazlo's name came up and I flinched and leaned against him.

"What will happen to him?" I asked.

Bill freely admitted that he didn't know and didn't much care either. He explained that there would probably be a trial and we would have to attend. I felt a tear in my eye at the thought of Lazlo's betrayal and Bill leaned over and gently wiped it away. Then he lifted me in his strong arms and cradled me in his lap the way my father had, to comfort me when I was a child.

* * *

Alex was due to return the next day. Bill had asked me if I would stay in my room. I knew how much he had missed her and I guessed why he wanted me out of the way. Lazlo had wanted the same thing from me.

I have to admit that I was confused as to where my loyalties lay. I loved both Bill and Alex. I respected Bill and I knew I should obey his instructions but, on the other hand, I felt that I really should be more concerned about Alex. After all, to be blunt, I knew Bill wanted me out of the way so that he could have sex with her, but I wasn't entirely sure that she wanted the same thing. Lazlo had forced sex on me and obviously expected it regularly but I had always hated it and despised him for it. I had always found it painful and degrading and, although I had discovered that people now were far more open about it than had been the case during my lifetime and that women appeared to enjoy it as much as men, I found it very hard to believe that this was actually true.

I sat in my room wondering what to do for the best. I should stay here, I knew Bill loved her, I knew he was a kind and gentle man, surely he wouldn't do anything to hurt her? But then Lazlo had told me the same thing hadn't he? And she was human, Bill was so much stronger than her! I began to pace up and down until I heard Alex's car in the driveway. I looked out to see her getting out of the car. As I watched I saw the front door fly open and Bill appeared. He gathered her up in his arms and kissed her. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back and then wriggled free, but Bill did not let her go. To my consternation he pulled her back to him and said something I couldn't hear. She appeared to persuade him to let her go and they moved to her car and I watched as he helped her bring her bags into the house. I backed away from the window feeling even more worried. Alex had seemed to struggle to free herself from Bill's embrace. I heard them come into the lounge and slipped out onto the landing. I lay down out of sight and peered carefully through the banisters.

I watched as Bill came into the lounge with Alex in his arms and collapsed onto the sofa. She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him again as he began to tug at her shirt, pulling it from the waistband of her cotton trousers. Rather to my surprise she released him and began to unfasten the buttons herself, opening her shirt and leaning back so that Bill could move his lips down to her breasts. From my vantage point on the landing I could see Bill slip down onto the floor and kneel before her, I could see his hands working at her waist and watched as she helped him remove her trousers. She lay back against the sofa her hands slipping into his hair, holding his head against her thighs.

Alex had slipped her shirt off and Bill had removed her bra so that she was now naked and he reached up and pulled her down onto the rug with him, swinging himself astride her and struggling to pull off his jeans. Alex lay on the rug beneath him watching him. I could see a smile on her face and it appeared to be genuine. I continued to watch, fascinated, as she turned her head and began to kiss Bill's thigh as he knelt astride her. His back was towards me but it appeared to me that she had taken him in her mouth, but he pulled back almost immediately and took her arms, sliding her body higher on the rug so that he could enter her properly.

I gritted my teeth, remembering how Lazlo had forced himself into me. I wanted to get up, to go and help her, but I didn't dare. I feared that Bill would be angry with me if he knew I had ignored his request to stay in my room. In fact I now wished that I had done so, I wanted to move but something seemed to keep me pinned to the floor, watching. And as I watched I saw Alex draw up her knees and wrap them around Bill's hips, pulling him closer to her. Why would she do that I wondered. Because she knew Bill liked it? Surely she could not want to encourage him? As I hesitated Bill gave a cry and I saw his body shudder with his release. He relaxed for a moment and then he rolled over onto his side pulling Alex alongside him.

They lay together on the rug before the fire, their bodies wrapped around each other. I could see them whispering to each other but I could not hear the words although I did hear Alex laugh. Then, just as I imagined, with relief, that her ordeal must be over, Bill rolled over onto his back and pulled her up on top of him. She knelt astride him for a moment and then, slowly and quite deliberately, sank down onto him. I was so surprised that I nearly gave myself away by moving. I watched in astonishment as she leaned back, placing her hands on Bill's thighs and began to move her hips sliding her body up and down on top of him in a manner that was quite unmistakeable, even to someone as inexperienced as I was. Bill lay on his back on the rug watching her with a smile. It was obvious that he was taking no part in this, his hands on her waist were merely steadying her. She was completely in control and it was equally obvious to me that she was enjoying every minute of it. She was using his body to pleasure herself! And he was quite happy to let her do it! I lay on the landing carpet and watched in disbelief as her body began to twitch and shudder with her own release. Bill sat up and took her in his arms, kissing her tenderly and drawing his tongue across her throat. He began to rock them gently, one arm around her waist holding her to him and I saw her head fall back, supported by his other hand. There was a flash of white and then Bill's face was buried in her neck and I realised with a shock that he had bitten her! I saw his arms tighten around her as he began to feed and then both their bodies began to convulse together in one great shuddering climax.

They sat there for a while, wrapped in each other's arms as my shocked brain tried to process what I had seen. It was obvious to me now that my concern for Alex had been entirely misplaced. She had clearly wanted him just as much as he had wanted her. He had clearly not forced or coerced her in any way. I felt an enormous relief at this realisation. I loved both of them dearly and I couldn't bear to think that Bill would do to Alex what Lazlo had done to me. This was clearly different in some way that I did not yet understand, but one thing was clear to me now. What had happened between me and Lazlo was very different from what Bill and Alex had. As I came to this conclusion Bill stood up with Alex in his arms, there was a blur of motion too fast for me to track and they were gone.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke at dusk the next day, dressed quickly and headed upstairs. Alex had promised me before she left that we could go into the town to look at the shops and I was really excited at the prospect. In what I now thought of as my previous life I had always enjoyed going to the market with my friends, strolling around in the sun and examining the various wares for sale on the gaudy stalls in the central plaza of my father's great city of Cuzco. But this was different. I had seen the buildings in the town only from the windows of Bill's car but they were so enticing! Great palaces of stone and glass lit up with many-coloured lights and filled with goods of every kind you could possibly imagine!

Alex had agreed to take me since, as she put it. "No man can possibly understand the concept of shopping!" Since Bill looked enormously relieved at this pronouncement I guessed that she was probably correct.

I found her in the kitchen and sat on the opposite counter watching her as she made herself something to eat. The items in Bill's kitchen fascinated me as I had never seen anything like them before. Bill had explained the concept of electricity to me and that this powered all the astonishing gadgets that everyone appeared to need. He had taught me how to use, first the television, which I had found amazing enough, and then the internet which provided me with an apparently endless supply of information, although he had warned me that not everything I would find there was true! However, since he never used the kitchen and claimed that his wife had always been in charge in the kitchen, he was unable to satisfy my curiosity about anything other than the microwave, which he used to heat up bottles of Tru Blood. The rough and ready cooking skills he had acquired in the army were no longer necessary and he assured me that this was probably a very good thing!

I watched with interest as Alex cracked two eggs into a glass bowl and began to beat them with a gadget which appeared to be made of wire loops.

"So" she said, turning to me. "Do you want to come shopping with me this evening?"

"Oh yes, please!" I said "I'd love to."

"Great!" she said putting the eggs down and pulling a vicious looking knife from a drawer. I must have looked a little shocked as she held up the knife which was nearly a foot long with a serrated blade. "It's just a bread knife!" she said with a laugh. "Watch!" She pulled a loaf of bread from a cupboard and put it on a wooden board then used the serrated knife to cut a slice off the loaf. I was amazed that such a terrifying implement could have such an ordinary purpose. I had seen knives much like it in the belts of some of my father's warriors, and they certainly didn't use them to cut bread!"

"Are you okay?" she asked, putting the knife down on the board and turning to me.

"Oh yes!" I answered. "That's just such a vicious looking knife!" She stared at me for a moment, puzzled.

"Did you never do any cooking?" she asked.

"Oh no!" I said "Cooking wasn't one of the skills my father considered that I would need. I was taught to sing and to dance and to make polite conversation. I was destined to be married off to one of my father's allies. Cooking was something he had servants for!"

Alex laughed. "Oh Azaria, your life must have been so different from anything I can imagine" she said. I watched as she put a pan on one of the heated rings and melted some butter in it. She poured the eggs into the pan and began stirring them with a wooden spoon. Then she paused and looked round at me. "Are you going to watch me eat them or are you going to get ready?" she asked. "Bill will be out of the shower in a minute and he said he'd give us a lift into town."

I hopped down from the counter with a smile and headed out into the hallway. When I had arrived Bill had arranged for a new suite to be constructed for me alongside his safe room. I opened the hall closet and pressed the panel which opened up the back. Before me was a flight of stairs going down to a security door. I had thought this a very odd arrangement at first, but then Alex had told me how she had hidden down here when a bunch of vampire hating bigots had broken into the house and I realised it was probably a very good idea. After all, before Alex had moved in Bill had lived here alone and needed some protection during the daylight hours. The security door, instead of opening directly into Bill's huge bedroom as it had before, now opened on a small foyer with two doors. One going into Bill's room and one to mine.

By the time I got back upstairs Alex was washing a plate and Bill was putting his jacket on and teasing her about the fact that she could barely lift the heavy frying pan.

"Well, come on then ladies. I've got things to do. I'll meet you in Carmillas in..." he consulted his watch for a moment, "three hours? Will that be long enough for you to spend all my money?"

Alex eyed him with a patient expression. "Would you like us to synchronise our watches?" she asked.

"Just get in the car!" said Bill, shooing us out of the house with a laugh. I squeezed into the back of Bill's Aston Martin, Bill and Alex got in the front and we set off. Bill dropped us off in the town centre with further instructions not to spend too much and Alex and I headed into a huge indoor area lined with shops. There was a café in the centre with a moving staircase going up to a higher floor and a pool surrounded by lush greenery, but the most incredible sight to me was around the sides of this huge space. The walls were lined with shops and the front of each was a great glass wall through which could be seen the items for sale inside. There were shops selling books, clothing, electronic gadgets, jewellery, shoes, everything and anything you could possible want or need. Alex and I wandered from shop to shop chatting and examining items until she paused outside a shoe shop to look in the window.

I glanced inside and saw them! Suddenly I understood exactly what Alex had meant when she had tried to explain to me how fashions had changed over the centuries. Inside on a stand, alongside dozens of others, was a pair of shoes. But these! They were not like any shoes I had ever seen before, they were more like jewellery for your feet! There were, I supposed, basically sandals. I had worn leather sandals since I was a child, a tough leather sole fastened to my ankle with leather straps. These were …..similar. A leather sole with thin leather straps up to the ankle, but the leather was silver and they had a slender heel which raised your foot so you stood on your toes. I became vaguely aware of Alex's voice in my ear and turned to look at her. She laughed at the look of wonder on my face and asked, "want to try them on?"

We went into the shop and Alex spoke to the assistants while I gazed in awe at the shoes carefully arranged like works of art along the shelves. Alex came over, asked me to slip my shoes off and put her bare foot alongside mine for a moment.

"A size four, or maybe five I'd say" she said to the assistant. "Better get both, half sizes too if you've got them." We sat down on a comfortable couch and waited for a moment until the two assistants appeared carrying a pile of boxes.

Ten minutes later the floor was awash with empty boxes and tissue paper and I was actually walking in front of a large tilted mirror admiring my feet in the beautiful silver sandals. It had taken a while mind you! I'd had to hold onto Alex at first while I learned to balance on the slim, five inch heels, but I soon got the idea and the silver straps up the instep and around my ankle looked wonderful against my dark skin.

"Do you think perhaps a lower heel? Just to start with maybe?" suggested Alex, watching me walking carefully in front of the mirror. "You've not had any experience at walking in these after all."

"I can practice at home" I said excitedly. "Oh they make my legs look so slender, and long! Do you think Bill will be cross with me?" I asked, suddenly unsure of myself and coming back to earth with a bump.

Alex gave a secretive little smile. "Leave him to me!" she said.

We left with our purchases, Alex having decided on a lovely pair of black and grey shoes with a slightly lower heel, and sat down at a small table in the coffee bar for a rest. Alex ordered herself a coffee and I discovered that, rather to my surprise, they served Tru Blood and so I ordered a bottle and we relaxed for a while, watching the other shoppers wandering about. Our final stop was a small boutique where Alex assured me I would find the perfect evening dress to go with my new shoes.

She was right! I tried on half a dozen and finally settled on a heavy black silk dress which left my arms and shoulders bare but had an unusual detail in that there was a collar in the same material which was joined to the bodice of the dress by a flood of silver lace flowers which ran down across one shoulder and down over the black silk bodice. After this triumph we struggled across to Carmillas and stashed our purchases in Bill's office before relaxing in the bar with another drink while we waited for Bill to get back from his meeting.

We sat on two high stools in the corner of the bar, Alex chatting to the barman as I watched the dancers. By now most of the regulars knew who we were and knew better than to try and…..now what was the phrase Alex had used?... "hit on us". Any who tried had Ilario to contend with.

Ilario was a huge muscular Mexican vampire obviously strong and powerful with olive skin similar to my own. Bill had told me that his Maker had come from my land and had told him my story. The ancient tale of a undying goddess, hidden in a lost temple in the deep jungle along the Urubamba river. He certainly treated me like a goddess! Whenever a young man approached me in the bar Ilario would glare at them until they gave up and moved off. Oddly enough I found this comforting rather than annoying as I was far from secure in my new position here and was very wary of doing or saying something that would make me look foolish or immature or worse, reflect badly on Bill as my "Maker".

We were just finishing our drinks when Bill arrived. "Had a good evening ladies?" he asked with a smile, giving Alex a kiss.

"Wait 'til you see your office" said Alex. "We might need Ilario's help to carry our purchases to the car!"

Bill gave a patient sigh and turned to me. "I hope she's not teaching you all her bad habits!" he said.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Oh...like buying half a dozen pairs of the same shoes in different colours." He suggested with a laugh.

Bill evidently thought this was amusing, but it struck me as a brilliant idea! I made a mental note to bear this in mind on our next shopping expedition.

We finished our drinks and Bill helped us load our bags into the car and drove us home. He had some paperwork to do resulting from his meeting so he left us together in the lounge and took his briefcase and laptop into the study.

Alex and I sat down on the sofa together. I felt comfortable and relaxed with her after our evening out together and, almost without realising it, I found myself telling her how Bill and I had talked while she was away. We had discussed all kinds of thing but I found myself talking about Lazlo. I knew that Alex had met Lazlo and that he had attacked her and bitten her, consequently I struggled to explain what I had found quite so attractive about him, even to myself.

I gave a sigh. "I saw him one day as I was out walking with my friends. I wasn't really supposed to go out alone of course, although I did manage to get out sometimes by myself. He was sitting on a rock by the river watching us. I'd never seen anyone like him in my life before. All our people were dark with black hair and brown eyes. He had yellow hair and his eyes!..….they were pale, not bright blue like Bill's but a paler grey, like yours. I just couldn't get him out of my mind and for days I looked for him every time we left the palace. Finally I sneaked out late at night and went back down to the river and he was there, waiting."

Alex sat on the sofa beside me, listening carefully as I tried to explain that it was his difference which had attracted me.

"He was just so unlike anyone I had ever met before! His pale skin almost glowed in the moonlight. He spoke our tongue but his accent was strange, exotic. He told me he had come from very far away, across the sea, that he had seen me out walking with my friends and had fallen in love with me. That he had been returning to this place by the river every night in the hope that he would see me again."

I felt such an idiot…..I had been so naïve! Alex smiled gently at me and I was encouraged to continue. I explained quietly how I would sneak out at night and go down to the river where he would be waiting for me. How he told me all about his home and his travels and he kissed me, but soon he wanted more. How he told me that he loved me and he wanted me and how, when he was tired of waiting, he forced himself on me.

Alex was horrified. "He raped you? A virgin? Oh my..." She reached for me and I leant towards her and let her pull me into her arms. She held me tight and I wept quietly as I told her how he had turned me completely against my will and really without my knowledge as I had no idea what was happening to me at the time.

"Then, when I came to live here, with you and Bill, I started to read books and use the internet and I read that other women actually enjoyed it!" I looked up at her. "I couldn't really believe it, I thought they were just saying that to please men. But then Bill showed me that it could be…..."

I felt Alex's arms stiffen around me. "He did what?" She asked quietly.

The implications of what I had said suddenly hit me. "Oh no! No, no, no not like that!" Hurriedly I tried to explain how I had crouched on the landing and watched as she and Bill had made love on the rug in front of the fire. She was a little shocked at first but then smiled as I tried hesitantly to explain what it had meant to me.

When Bill came back out of the study I quickly picked up my bags and retired to my room. I wasn't sure if Alex would even tell him what I had told her, but I didn't want to be around just in case! I slipped downstairs and unpacked my bags, hanging my lovely new dress up in the almost empty wardrobe. I stood gazing at it for a moment considering how far I had come in the last few months thanks to the help of Bill and Alex. I so wanted them to be proud of me.

A few weeks had passed, fairly uneventfully. Alex and I spent a few evenings with Bill at the club. However, I made an effort to allow them time to be together on their own as I was very concious of the fact that I had moved into their house and intruded on their lives and I had no wish to make them regret agreeing to care for me. Although I was grateful for the fact that they always made an effort to include me. I recall one evening which I spent lying on the lounge carpet with Bill and Alex on the sofa watching re-runs of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". I had discovered this on one of the seemingly inexhaustible number of TV channels available and introduced Bill to it. He was in absolute hysterics.

"It's no wonder we were able to stay under the radar for so long if this is what humans thought vampires were like!" he said. "Although I must admit to a degree of sympathy for Giles...those girls run him ragged, the poor man! And why would anyone imagine that a werewolf would turn into something so unlike a wolf?"

"Oh come on Bill" said Alex "it's meant to be entertainment not a documentary!"

"Oh it's entertaining all right!" he laughed. "One girl is going to be able to save the world from...well from everything really!" He pulled her into his arms, laughing. I guess she's overwhelmed with work now, wherever she is. So I've got nothing to worry about!" He pressed Alex against the back of the sofa and began kissing her hungrily. Alex struggled ineffectually to push him off, giggling hysterically.

"Help, help!" she cried. "I need the slayer!"

"No chance honey! She's far too busy" laughed Bill holding her wriggling body down against the cushions.

"Really?" said Alex, abruptly ceasing to struggle. "Oh well…I guess I'll just have to let you ravish me then!"

"Excellent idea!" said Bill, standing up.

"No, no, not right now. I want to see the end of the show!" said Alex.

Bill put on an extremely disappointed expression. "Oh you little tease!" he grumbled, sitting down again.

I turned my head from where I was lying on the carpet in front of the TV. "Will you two keep it down please! I'm trying to watch TV here!" I complained crossly. Bill and Alex chuckled and settled down again on the sofa.

It was the very next night that the message came from Ulrich. I had just woken and was dozing in bed in my suite downstairs when I heard something ringing in the hallway above. I tried to ignore it but then I recognised it as Bill's phone and thought it might be important. Where was he? Why didn't he answer it I wondered. I climbed out of bed and padded up the stairs just as the ringing stopped. Bill's phone was lying on the hall table so I picked it up and carried it into the lounge to see Bill and Alex on the sofa together. They sat up as I came in.

I handed Bill the phone. "You left it on the hall table...it was ringing" I said. Bill took the phone and flipped it open. He read the text and his face changed.

He looked up at us with a worried expression. "It's from Ulrich, he wants to speak to us, all of us, about Lazlo. He's on his way here, he says he'll be here in a few hours."


	4. Chapter 4

By the time Ulrich arrived I had showered and dressed and was sitting in an armchair in the corner of the lounge. I had been curled up in the chair for a while silently trying to keep control of my emotions. I had been so happy here that I was frankly terrified that Ulrich was coming to take me away for some reason. Worse, that he would hand me back to Lazlo! I was sure that Bill would fight to keep me but I knew that Ulrich was a very powerful vampire and Bill's opinion might not sway him if he had already made a decision.

We heard a car draw up in the driveway and Bill went to the door, I heard him greet Vincent, Ulrich's security guard who remained stationed at the front door and then he, Ulrich and another guard walked into the lounge.

I had not seen him since he had brought me to Carmillas that night and as he turned to look at me I thought he looked rather embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Bill" he said, looking around again and nodding to Alex. "But some problems have developed with our case against Lazlo.

"What?" said Bill. "After everything we've told you about him. Starting with our encounter in the 1930's!"

Ulrich moved to the sofa and sat down "think about it Bill" he said with a sigh So, he killed humans, his servants. Most vampires don't actually have a problem with that!"

Bill's voice had turned cold and angry. I could hear that he was saying something to Ulrich, listing Lazlo's crimes, but somehow everything sounded muffled. I tried to concentrate on Bill but all I could think about was Lazlo. I couldn't believe that Ulrich was actually suggesting that what he had done could possibly be considered acceptable. Did most vampires really think like this? Was Bill so very different? I felt a powerful anger beginning to build up inside me. These other vampires had probably never known Lazlo, what right did they have to judge his actions?

To his credit Ulrich was looking extremely uncomfortable. "Charles yes, we can charge him for that. You too Bill, and possibly for attacking Alex if he knew that she was yours, but as for Azaria" he turned to look at me for a moment. "Most vampires believe that they have a right to discipline their progeny."

"Discipline!" said Bill furiously "She spent nearly six hundred years locked in that coffin, surrounded with silver! A punishment that even The Authority has never inflicted on anyone, and she had done nothing to deserve it, nothing but express a wish to stay with her people!"

I sat curled in the chair, frozen with shock and felt the anger build up until I could almost feel the pressure of it on my skin. All the hatred and disgust I felt for him seemed to bubble up in my mind and overflow all at once. I felt my fangs snap down as I stared at Ulrich. He was suggesting that Lazlo had had a right to brutalize me the way he had, to rape me, to betray me to the priests of the old religion, and all because I was his "progeny" a fate which he himself had inflicted on me against my will.

Suddenly I felt it again...the agony of the silver setting a fire in my flesh. The horror of being locked into the darkness with only the pain for company I still don't remember actually getting up from the armchair. The next thing I recall was Ulrich's

security guard moving to block my path. He barely glanced at me, his confidence that he could protect his master against a small slim girl evident in his every movement. He was unaware that, being a member of a warrior race, in my youth I had spent many hours training with my father's guards whose skill in unarmed combat was renowned throughout the kingdom.

He stepped in front of me and leaned down to stop me. Hardly even thinking about what I was doing, I reached for his wrist and pulled him off balance, using his weight and momentum against him as I had been taught all those centuries ago. I had intended merely to throw him aside out of my way but I had failed to anticipate one of the effects of my long confinement. Although Bill had explained to me that vampires grow stronger with age, somehow I had not applied this knowledge to myself. I did not consider myself to be "old". However, when I twisted my body to throw the guard away from me, to my surprise he flew across the room and through the closed window onto the terrace!

I stared at the broken window for a moment and then turned back to Ulrich.

"Azaria!"

Bill's calm, quiet voice stopped me instantly in my tracks and I turned to look at him.

"Now you know we don't do that kind of thing in my house!" he glanced at the broken glass on the carpet. "You're going to have to pay for that window!"

I gave him a sheepish little smile and said "I'm sorry Bill, but I..."

"Yes, I understand." he said beckoning me over to him.

I walked across the room to him, Ulrich stepping rather hurriedly out of my way, and he took me in his arms and kissed me gently on the forehead. "We will do everything we can to see that he's punished, trust me. But if we fail, then it will not affect you, he has no power over you any longer. Do you understand?" I nodded and smiled up at him.

Bill turned back to Ulrich, his arm around my shoulders. "So what's happened exactly?" he asked. "The last time we spoke you were preparing a case against him. Gerry tells me that you called him in and made Lazlo release him so that he could give evidence."

"It appears that a backlash is building up in his favour. Some friend of his has arrived from the US claiming he's been victimised by The Authority, that he's being used as a scapegoat to appease the human public."

"When both Gerry and Azaria, his own progeny, are prepared to give evidence against him? Who is this?" asked Bill angrily, taking his arm from my shoulders. I moved back quietly to the armchair, watching Bill carefully.

"I don't know him myself, though other members of The Authority apparently do. A Viking, calls himself Northman."

Bill suddenly looked absolutely furious.

"Eric?"

"You know him?" asked Ulrich, looking surprised.

"Oh yes, I know him. I didn't know that he knew Lazlo but somehow I'm not surprised! Well ladies," he said turning to us "it appears that we're going to London to join the fight against Lazlo."

Ulrich sighed... "I'm sorry Bill, I know how much this means to you and Azaria but I'm afraid there is no fight against Lazlo."

I watched as Bill's lips curled into one of the most dangerous looking smiles I have ever seen, his brilliant blue eyes blazing with fury and I knew that if there was no fight before, there certainly was now!

I'm going to start one! He hissed.


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later we set off for London to the headquarters of the Vampire Authority. Bill had arranged for us to travel by train with a company called Anubis. He explained to me that we would travel by day in sealed, light tight capsules and arrive in London at dusk. When I had arrived in England from Italy I had travelled with Ulrich and his entourage in a fleet of specially modified vehicles and I had never seen anything like this before. The capsules arrived in a large armoured van and looked to me rather like two futuristic coffins. Alex said that they reminded her of the escape pods from spaceships in Sci Fi movies and I realised that she was quite right! After that I could only think of them as "the escape pods"!

Whatever you called them, they were certainly very comfortable. Bill and I climbed in at dawn and woke at dusk at what I discovered was Paddington Station. We got out and stepped down onto the platform, Bill looking along the train for Alex, who had travelled in a different carriage. He spotted her and waved as the courier from Anubis was bringing our bags down onto the platform.

She came up to us and Bill put an arm around her waist, pulling her in for a kiss.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Fine!" she said "I even managed to doze off for a while on the train. It's certainly much quieter in First Class!"

The courier handed Bill a clipboard which he signed to acknowledge receipt of our bags and we headed across the huge station to a line of taxis waiting outside. In minutes we were being whisked across the city. I stared out of the window in awe, gazing at the majestic old buildings and the tree lined squares as we drove across the city to the Authority Headquarters. We drove past one large square with a tall column in the centre surrounded by four stone lions and I craned my neck to see, at the top of the column, the statue of a man. I wondered who he was but before I could turn to Alex and ask her, my eye was caught by the great river as we turned onto the Embankment and drove past another column which I recognised as an Egyptian obelisk. The excitement of my unfamiliar surroundings had quite taken my mind off the reason for our journey and it was not until we pulled up outside a tall elegant building and I realised that we had arrived that I turned my thoughts to Lazlo.

Bill got out of the taxi and leaned back in to take my hand. He was such a gentleman! He helped me out of the taxi with a smile and then did the same for Alex. I stood on the pavement looking up at the building and wondered if Lazlo was already inside. I suddenly realised that, although I had thought of him many times during my long imprisonment, it was over 500 years since I had actually set eyes on him.

When Ulrich had brought him to my room in Sorrento and insisted that he release me I had been unable to look at him. Just the sound of his voice was sufficient to make me tremble with a mixture of fear and anger. I wondered how I would react to him now. As I thought about this I realised that, although it had only been a relatively short time ago, I was very different now. Bill's obvious affection for me had given me a self confidence I had lacked before. During my ordeal in the silver casket I had spent what seemed now to be an interminable length of time thinking about Lazlo, about what he had done to me, and I now understood that the knowledge of his betrayal had damaged me. During my long imprisonment I had come to believe that it was somehow my fault. That I had not been good enough for him. That if I had been more obedient, if I had loved him more, this terrible fate would not have happened to me.

A few weeks of living with Bill and Alex was sufficient to dispel these thoughts completely. Their relationship was so different. It was open and loving, they shared everything, supported each other and above all they loved each other deeply.

I knew from Bill that Alex had risked herself to heal him, although she had hardly known him at the time. A pink glaze of tears had appeared in his eyes when he told me how he had told her openly what he needed from her, her blood, and how he had waited, night after night, in the bar after she had fled from him in fear, hoping that she would return to him. How finally she had offered herself to him voluntarily, healing his sickness with her blood.

Since that time they had hardly been apart. She had introduced Bill to her human friends, unconcerned as to whether they would accept him or not. Bill had told her more about his past than he had ever told anyone before. He had explained to me that he was able to relax and feel comfortable with her because he knew that she accepted him for what he was and did not judge him.

With their support I felt sure that I could face up to Lazlo and, hopefully, he would receive the punishment he deserved.

"Azaria? Are you okay?" Bill put his hand gently on my arm and I realised that I had been standing on the pavement staring blankly at the building, lost in my thoughts.

I smiled up at him. "Sorry Bill" I said "I was just thinking about Lazlo..."

He put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a hug. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" he asked quietly. "You don't have to attend the hearing if you really don't want to."

"Our case will be stronger if I testify though, won't it?" I asked.

"Yes, it will" he answered.

I straightened up, determined that I would not let Bill down. "Then I'll be fine!" I said.

He smiled down at me and gave my shoulder another little squeeze. "Then let's go" he said, and we walked together into the foyer of the building following Alex and a porter who had appeared to take our bags.

To my surprise the building appeared to be an office block with the names of several firms of stockbrokers listed on a marble plaque inside the door. However we were not heading to the front desk but to a door off to one side opening onto a small room with a marble pattered floor. We, the porter and our luggage entered the room and Bill pulled the door closed. I was just about to ask what was going on when I realised that the room was moving. It was an elevator! We sank down to a sub basement level and the door was opened on what appeared to be the foyer of an expensive hotel.

Looking around I spotted an elegant, well dressed woman sitting in an armchair reading a fashion magazine who looked up when the elevator doors opened and smiled when she saw Bill step out into the foyer.

"Hello Bill" she said, putting down the magazine and standing up with a smile.

"Claudia!" said Bill, looking surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Gerry told me about the hearing so I guessed you'd be coming too" she replied, turning to me. "You must be Azaria" she reached out and took my hand "I can't imagine what you must have gone through my dear" she said earnestly "but, believe me, you're in good hands now!" She gave Bill a little smile.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that!" I said shyly.

"Well" she said briskly, "we thought, Gerry and I, that rather than sit around worrying about the hearing we should all go out for a meal together. I know a good restaurant nearby which caters for both vampires and humans. I'll bring Chris and Gerry's bringing Susie. What do you think? Would you like to join us?"

We glanced at each other. "Sounds like a great idea" said Bill.

So we headed to our suite which, I was delighted to see, had a separate room for me, unpacked and set off for the restaurant Claudia had chosen.

When we arrived Claudia was seated at a large table with a young man sitting next to her dressed in jeans and a T shirt. She introduced him as Chris and it appeared that Bill and Alex knew him quite well. There was another young man with her with short dark hair but just as she introduced him, Gerry arrived and I missed his name.

I had met Gerry before when I accompanied Bill to a meeting but I had not met the tiny blonde on his arm before.

He grinned at me, "Hi Azaria, this is Susie."

She gave me a friendly smile. "Hello Azaria! Gerry's told me about you and I've been longing to meet you!" I smiled politely as Alex came over.

"Susie!" she gave her a hug and said "I've not seen you since Luxor! How are you getting on?"

"Oh great!" replied Susie. "Since I've been dating Gerry I've become quite the expert on vampire politics! After that press conference in Luxor I got several job offers from papers and TV but I've set myself up as an independent consultant." She looked up at Gerry. "Poor Gerry has to be careful what he tells me now!"

He grinned down at her "Dating a reporter! It's hell….I have to watch every word I say! It's just as well that I don't know any secrets really."

By this time we were all settling down around the table and I found myself next to the one person that I did not know. It was the young man with short dark hair who jumped up and pulled the chair out for me with a smile.

"Hi!" he said. "No-one bothered to introduce me so I'll do it myself. I'm Dan." I sat down as he carefully straightened the chair for me.

"Thank you Dan" I said. "I'm Azaria."

Dan sat down, not taking his eyes off me. "What a beautiful name! Where do you come from Azaria?"

"Well, it's called Peru now I understand" I said shyly, "but I've not been back since…..well, it's a long story."

"You must tell it to me sometime" he said with a smile. "Oh, I should probably explain who I am shouldn't I? I'm Chris's brother. I just happened to be with him when Claudia decided to organise this little get together so I got myself invited almost by accident. I must say if I'd known you were going to be here I'd have made more of an effort!"

I felt a blush creeping up my neck as he spoke and I looked up to see Alex watching me with a smile. At this point the waiter arrived with the menus and we began ordering drinks. For the rest of the evening Dan hardly spoke to anyone else. I caught Bill eyeing him disapprovingly once or twice but at the end of the meal I gave him the number of the phone Bill had bought for me and I really hoped he would call me. I was sure I could handle Bill with Alex's help! I was happy to have him on hand to protect me from unwanted attention, but I found that Dan's attention was certainly not unwanted…..quite the opposite in fact!

I walked the short distance back to The Authority's headquarters with Bill and Alex in a bit of a daze. Bill said nothing about my new admirer, which surprised me a little until I realised that Alex had probably warned him off! The thought made me smile to myself as we headed down in the elevator. As we reached the foyer Alex suggested that I might like to take a look at the jewellery shop which was situated just along from the front desk.

"You go on back to the room Bill" she said. "Didn't you say that you wanted to have a shower before dawn comes?"

"Well, I wasn't planning on having it on my own" said Bill looking a little disappointed.

"You can come with us and look at jewellery if you like!" she said brightly.

"No, no….that's okay. I'll see you later" said Bill hurriedly, setting off down the corridor before she could change her mind and insist. She watched him go with a little smile.

"Now why do I think that was exactly what you wanted him to say?" I asked.

"Men!" she smiled. "They're all alike. You just have to know how to handle 'em!" I laughed. Alex put her hand on my shoulder and directed me into the tiny jewellers' shop. "Speaking of handling men…." she said. "You seemed to be getting on very well with Dan?"

I felt a hot flush creep up the back of my neck. "Well" I said "I thought he was very nice…" I turned to Alex hopefully. "He seemed to really like me, do you think he might like me?"

"Oh I would say he definitely likes you!" she said. "The question is, do you like him?"

I grinned at her. "Well, he's very good looking isn't he? And he's very sweet!"

"Did I see him writing down your number?" she asked. "He's keen!"

"Do you think Bill will be okay with it?" I asked. "He's very protective, I mean….I do appreciate that but….I really like Dan. I don't want Bill to put him off."

She laughed. "He's Chris's brother so he must know a bit about vampires. I'm sure Chris and Claudia will let him know that Bill's bark is worse than his bite….so to speak! Let's just see how it goes shall we?" We turned to the glass display cases and began examining some of the jewellery for sale in the little boutique.

Suddenly Alex looked up with an expression of fright.

"Alex? What's wrong?" I asked, putting a hand on her arm.

She looked at me with pain in her eyes. "It's Bill!" she said "Something's happened, come on we have to get back!" She turned from the glass case and ran out of the door and down the corridor towards our suite with me close behind her.

The suite was close and we were there in a few seconds. Alex flung the door open and stepped inside. Everything seemed to freeze for a moment as I followed her through the door. Bill was standing on the rug in front of the couch and even I could see the tension in his stance. Opposite him stood a girl I had never seen before, a human girl. She wore a white flowered dress which accentuated her tanned limbs and her blond hair was tied back in a ponytail. I recognised her as a girl I had vaguely noticed in the restaurant, she had been sitting at a neighbouring table with a tall blond vampire. I had only noticed her because she had kept glancing over at Bill and he had appeared to studiously ignore her.

"Bill, honey!" cried Alex " Are you okay? What's wrong?" She turned and saw the girl.

"Oh!" she said, stopping dead in her tracks. "I see!"

"You see what?" asked Bill.

"I see why you're so upset" she said quietly. "I could feel it."

Bill turned to us and I was shocked to see bloody tears on his face. Who was this girl? I felt a powerful urge to hustle her out, away from Bill, to protect him. But I had no idea what was going on here.

Bill moved over to the couch and sat down, holding out his hands to Alex, who took them and sat down beside him. The girl stared at them for a moment and then muttered something and ran to the door. Just as she reached it it flew open and the tall blond vampire I had noticed in the restaurant burst in.

"What the devil's going on here?" he snarled at the blond girl. "What are you doing in Compton's room?"

"I just wanted to talk to him Eric" she said, sounding totally defeated.

"You have nothing to talk about! Go back to our room!" he ordered, taking a step towards Bill. Without thinking I moved in front of him and the other vampire burst out laughing. "Oh look!" he said. "Compton's got himself an attack puppy!"

Bill stood up and put his hand on my shoulder. "I guess this must be Lazlo's child?" he asked. "Don't worry my dear, you'll soon be back with your Maker." He gave me a smile and hustled the girl out of the room.

Bill gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead and a little push in the direction of my room. I didn't want to go. I wanted to know what was going on. Obviously something important had just happened but I had no idea who these people were! I looked over at Alex and she nodded in the direction of my room. Somewhat reluctantly I left them alone together and went to bed for the day.

I rose at dusk and, as we got ready for the hearing Alex explained that the blond vampire was Eric. The one who was acting for Lazlo, the one whose name had had such a galvanising effect on Bill. Something in her manner as she told me this warned me not to ask for more details and I sensed that there was much more between them than this. In what seemed like a few minutes we were ready and, taking Bill's hand I set out for the hearing chamber where, in just a short time, I would see my maker again for the first time in five hundred years.


	6. Chapter 6

Bill pushed open a pair of carved wooden doors and we walked into a large Council chamber. I found that I was hanging back a little behind him and looked down at my hands to see that they were trembling a little. The thought of seeing Lazlo again after all these years had turned my stomach to water.

Bill seemed to sense my discomfort and looked back. He smiled down at me and took my hand. As his cool fingers curled around mine I felt myself straightening up. I remembered what he had taught me over the last few months. I was no longer that frightened child that Lazlo had bullied and intimidated, I told myself firmly. I had suffered a terrible ordeal at his hands and come out stronger. I was empowered and brave and, most important of all, I was loved. Bill loved me. So did Alex. I no longer needed his approval...

My stomach was fluttering as if I had swallowed a flock of butterflies but I was determined that I would not let Bill down. It was clear that something had happened to upset him last night. I had no idea what was going on but it was clear that there was something between him and the tall blonde vampire, Eric. Something to do with the blonde girl who had been in our suite last night with Bill. I was predisposed to dislike him anyway since he was defending Lazlo but his condescending attitude to me and the way he had patronized Bill simply confirmed my initial animosity.

As I looked around at the spacious room with a platform containing three chairs at one end with a tapestry on the wall behind them another door opened and Ulrich came in followed by two other vampires and then Eric with the blonde girl. I heard Alex mutter something crossly to Bill. Evidently she wasn't happy with this development. But before I could say anything the door opened again and two security guards came in holding Lazlo between them. He staggered slightly over the threshold for a moment and was looking down at the floor as he entered the room. Then he raised his head and his strange, pale eyes fastened directly on me. Suddenly I was back beside the river that flowed through Cuzco, looking up to see this exotic creature watching me, ignoring all my friends and concentrating solely on me as though I was the most important thing in his world. That was what I had thought at the time but now that same intense gaze was fastened on me again and I recognized it as the acquisitive stare of someone who simply wanted to possess me. To own me.

I shivered and squeezed Bill's hand tighter. I watched as the security guards took Lazlo over to a chair beside the platform with solid, heavy arms where he sat down and was locked in with a bar fastened by a silver chain.

Ulrich came over to us and introduced the other two vampires as Olivier Bertrand, the Magister for Europe, and Lydia from the EVL. Bill had explained to me that a Magister was a judge in our world and I understood that these three would be Lazlo's judges. I watched them carefully as they spoke to Bill and Eric, realising that they had the power to change my life. If they decided in favour of Lazlo I had no idea what might happen to me. I was comfortable living with Bill and Alex, I was happy. I wouldn't deny that it had been difficult at first. This world was so different to the world I had grown up in it was as though I had woken on a different planet!

I had struggled at times to understand what was expected of me and what behaviour was appropriate, but both Bill and Alex had been so patient and understanding. They had welcomed me into their home and made me feel that I was a part of their family. The thought that I might be made to leave them filled me with horror.

Ulrich, I was fairly sure, would be on our side. He had been the instigator of the search for my resting place. He had been present in the little abandoned church in the mountains when Lazlo had caught up with them and attacked Alex. But I had no idea how the other two would react. As I considered this I saw the tall blonde, Eric reach out for Alex. I had been so lost in my thoughts about Lazlo that I hadn't noticed what was going on.

I jumped forward, certain that Eric meant to harm her but Bill was quicker. Both Ulrich and The magister had put out a hand to stop Eric but he had shrugged them off and reached out for her throat. A tall, distinguished looking man whom I recognised as Charles Montague had stood up behind Alex and put out a hand towards Eric, but he seemed only interested in her necklace. It was a thin gold chain with a small round opal suspended from it and a larger opal, shaped like a teardrop, suspended from that. I remembered seeing her put it on as we were getting ready and thinking how unusual it was, but I couldn't imagine why it should elicit such a reaction from Eric.

Bill had dragged Eric back and stepped between him and Alex, his fangs drawn, but Eric seemed mesmerised by the necklace.

"Where did you get this?" he whispered, looking shocked.

"It belonged to my great grandmother!" replied Alex quietly.

"What do you think you're doing?" snarled Bill angrily "How dare you lay a hand on her!" He turned to Alex "You didn't have that necklace in Amsterdam did you? How can you have seen it before Eric?"

Suddenly I saw him stop and a strange expression crossed his face. Surprise mixed with a sudden realisation "Of course!" he said "It was you wasn't it? You gave Daisy the necklace, you were the man who told her you would come back for her. That you would marry her and take her to America with you!"

I had absolutely no idea what was going on and it appeared that I was not the only one.

"Is this relevant?" asked the Magister.

"In a way yes" said Bill. "Daisy, the girl Eric gave the necklace to, was killed by Lazlo."

"So how could she be her great grandmother?" asked Eric.

"Because I took the necklace from her body and gave it to her friend Edith. Edith was Alex's great grandmother." explained Bill.

"Edith?" said Eric looking thoughtful for a moment. "Oh yes, she was the boring one!"

"She was the lucky one, the one who survived!" snapped Bill.

"Right, we need to hear about this officially, not like this." said Ulrich, taking charge. He waved his arm at the two guards who were now standing on either side of the doors and they opened to admit a crowd of vampires who flooded in and filled the seating area. Moments later I was sitting next to Alex and listening as Bill told the story of how he had first met Lazlo in London in the 1930s. How he had met two of Lazlo's housemaids in a bar and been invited to stay by Gerry, who was Lazlo's progeny.

I sat up at this, startled. I had not realised that Gerry was Lazlo's child too! I glanced over to where he sat with Charles and he gave me a big smile and winked at me. Alex noticed the glance and squeezed my hand gently. I felt as though I had found a brother I didn't know I had! I wondered why he, or Bill, hadn't told me, but as Bill's story progressively became darker I thought I understood.

Bill told of how the necklace had been a gift to the housemaid, Daisy, from an admirer, who know turned out to be Eric, although they had not known this at the time. How poor Daisy had met her terrible death at one of Lazlo's parties and how he and Gerry had been forced to dispose of her body, removing the necklace in case it was recognised. He explained how he had given the necklace to Daisy's friend Edith, telling her that she had wanted her to have it as a parting gift when she left with her mysterious admirer to be married as he had promised her, not wanting her to know her friend's awful fate. I notice Eric get a few disapproving looks at this point but he ignored them and continued to lounge in his seat, looking bored.

Alex then took up the story, explaining how Edith had left Lazlo's service to be married to Thomas, who was the chauffeur employed by one of Lazlo's neighbours in Belgravia, who then moved away to the country. Thomas and Edith had four children and Edith left the necklace to her eldest daughter with instructions to always remember Daisy. To everyone's surprise Edith's daughter was Alex's grandmother!

I glanced over at Eric who was staring entranced at the necklace. It was obvious that he had given it to Daisy simply to keep her quiet and had no intention of ever coming back for her. He obviously knew she was long dead and had never thought to see it again. No wonder he had been so shocked to see it around Alex's neck.

Gerry confirmed Bill's story and added some detail about Lazlo's parties which were apparently a regular occurrence at his home.

Then Charles Montague got up and explained how he had taken "Lawrence Peterson" to Bill's house to introduce him to his new sheriff. He had been surprised to learn that they had met before and then Lazlo had seemed to become fascinated by Alex for some reason. The next thing Charles knew, Lazlo had turned on him and hit him, taking him by surprise and knocking him backwards through a glass topped table. According to Charles, he was "momentarily stunned" but he was nevertheless surprised to find on recovering, that Bill and Alex had managed to subdue Lazlo between them and secure him in silver until Charles' security arrived to take him away.

Bill then explained what had happened in the little church in the mountains where Brother Diego had hidden my casket. How Lazlo had found them there and dragged Alex out of the crypt and bitten her, how she had fought him off using a piece of silver which had broken off the casket, The one time in five hundred years when I was glad of it!

Then, all too soon, it was my turn. Bill took my hand and gently directed me to stand before the podium on which the judges sat. Ulrich smiled down at me, as did the Magister, but Lydia gazed at me as though I were some new and vaguely interesting species of insect.

"This" said Bill, turning to the assembled audience of vampires who filled the rest of the Council chamber "is the Princess Azaria. Some of you may have already heard her legend. For those who have not I would ask that you put yourself in her place and try to imagine her suffering at the hands of this...creature!" He glared at Lazlo in disgust and sat down.

So, haltingly at first, I began to tell them my story. Of how I had lived happily with my family in my father's palace in Cuzco, growing up with my brothers until that fateful day when I had walked with my friends beside the river and seen Lazlo watching me. How I had been fascinated by his fair hair, his light eyes and his pale skin, so different from anyone I had ever seen before. I saw Lazlo smirk and preen himself a little as I explained how I had returned alone and found him waiting for me. After that we had met on several occasions, Lazlo always showing me the respect and courtesy I had come to expect from my father's subjects. He was always gentle and polite and yes, loving, until the night when he took me in his arms, telling me again that he loved me and wanted me, and this time it became clear that he was determined not to be denied his wish.

We had walked down a jungle path, well away from any help and I was no match for him in strength. I described how, to my absolute horror, he forced me to the ground and raped me. Then, before I could recover from the shock, he turned his face to me to reveal his long vicious fangs and bit me. I struggled and fought but I stood no chance against him and I felt myself fall into darkness.

When I awoke I was lying in his arms in the forest. I looked around to see that the earth had been disturbed around us and we were both covered in dirt. It was then that he explained what he had done to me. At first I simply refused to believe him but it didn't take him long to convince me. In all the suffering he has put me through I believe those few hours were the worst. The slowly dawning realisation of the true horror of my situation. That I was no longer human, that my whole life, my future, had been snatched away from me, that nothing would ever be the same again.


	7. Chapter 7

I glanced up to see Bill watching me, his bright eyes slightly dimmed with a glaze of tears. I straightened up and pulled myself together a little. I knew that he had suffered worse since he had been taken away from his family completely. Lazlo had eventually given in to my pleas to be allowed to see my family again. In fact, looking back, he seemed suspiciously keen to stay in the area and I wondered if perhaps he had been hiding from someone, or something and had simply used me as a convenient excuse. Whatever the reason he seemed happy to return with me to the palace. He never explained to me exactly what he did to my family but I now understand that it was a glamour. They seemed simply to accept the fact that they only saw me at night and I was so relieved to be with them again that I never questioned it.

Of course I realise now that this situation could never have lasted for long. Someone would have been bound to become suspicious about us. In fact it was the High Priest who eventually brought the situation to an end by pressing my father to arrange a marriage for me. This, of course, was quite out of the question and Lazlo's answer was that it was time to move on.

I absolutely refused to leave. At first Lazlo was quite relaxed about this and continued to make his arrangements as though I had agreed. He seemed perfectly confident in his ability to make me obey him. On the night he had chosen for us to leave he came to my room at dusk and asked if I was ready. I told him again that I would not leave. I was stronger now, more confident, I told him that he was welcome to go without me, that I would talk my father round somehow.

Lazlo simply laughed at me. "You could never survive without me child! You know nothing!" he said.

"And why is that?" I snapped back at him. "Because you have taught me nothing! That's why I won't leave with you!"

He leaned on the doorpost with a sly smile. "Oh but you will my dear. As your maker I command you!"

I felt a sudden pull throughout my body and took a step towards him purely on instinct before the feeling faded and I stopped. "No! I won't!" I said firmly.

Lazlo stared at me astonished. "I command you!" he said again, louder this time.

I could feel the power, the compulsion in his voice, but somehow it just slid off me. I stared back defiantly. "No!"

"You...you can't do that! It's not possible!" he whispered. As he stared at me I could feel the power of his gaze, pulling at me, but I could also feel something else. I had a strong feeling that my mother was with me. She had died the year before Lazlo came, my father had been inconsolable for he loved her dearly. I could almost smell her perfume in the air as I watched Lazlo struggle with what was evidently an alien concept to him. I had defied him.

"Very well!" his voice was lowered to a venomous hiss. "If you wish to stay then you may do so! You may stay here forever! You will pay for this insolence child, believe me!" There was a shift in the air and a blur and he was gone. I never saw him again.

At first I was relieved but then I began to wonder if, perhaps, he was right. Could I really survive on my own? As it turned out I needn't have worried. I never got the chance to find out. Just before dawn I headed out into the jungle to an old abandoned temple Lazlo and I had discovered and where we spent our days. In the deep crypts beneath the temple I lay down to sleep away the day, alone for the very first time.

They came for me during the daytime, when I was helpless against them. They brought silver to bind me and placed me in a casket covered with silver. The pain was indescribable, but even that was nothing compared to the fear. Fear of what would happen to me, what they would do. As it turned out the answer was simple. They did nothing. They left me...I lay in that casket alone for just over five hundred years until it was opened in the Authority's rooms in Sorrento.

I fell silent. I did not wish to try to describe the horror of those years, the agony, the terror, the loneliness. I could see from the faces of the vampires watching me that they knew. They may not have felt it themselves, but they could imagine what I had gone through.

In the silence Eric stood up from his chair, looking bored. "Almost everything of which Lazlo is accused comes down to crimes against humans" he said. "Yes, he attacked Bill, but then" he gave a little smile, "who hasn't?" There was a little ripple of laughter in the room.

Bill took my hand and drew me back to the bench beside Alex.

"He attacked Mr Montague" continued Eric calmly, turning to Charles who was glaring at him furiously, "for which I'm sure he will apologise. Finally, he disciplined his own Progeny, is that a crime?" He looked around the silent audience. "The punishment may have been a little harsh, but who is to say that it was not justified? Times were different then."

He spread his hands out in a helpless little gesture, "Other than that...he killed humans! Isn't that what we do?"

Bill stood up and faced him. "Not any more!" he said.

Eric laughed "I'm happy to play the businessman to get their money, but we have always killed and fed on humans and we always will." he said. "Whatever you and your friends might think."

Bill looked at him calmly. "Eric, you are over one thousand years old. I can't believe that you can have survived for so long and still be so stupid."

Eric glared at him, his fangs out "We've lived like that among humans for generations" he snarled "we got away with it then, so why not now?"

"We got away with it because they didn't know! Because very few humans ever believed we existed. It's different now." There was a little ripple of discontent in the audience and Bill turned to them. "I know that many of you think that the Revelation was a mistake, but whatever you think it doesn't matter any more, we're out in the open now whether you like it or not and if we want to survive we must moderate our behaviour."

"Are you saying that you're afraid of them" asked Eric with a sneer. "Any one of us, even the youngest, is far stronger than any human!"

"Yes, I'm sure that you're much stronger than any human Eric, than any ten humans perhaps. But how about a hundred, a thousand. There are many more of them than there are of us. They know our strengths and, more importantly, they know our weaknesses. They always had the advantage of numbers, any one vampire was always vulnerable to a mob, you know this. But now …... now they won't come armed with flaming torches and pitchforks, but with crossbows with wooden arrows, wooden bullets, silver, flamethrowers. Think about this Eric, you saw the arsenal that the Fellowship of the Sun had in Dallas. How many of us do you think it would take to stand up to that kind of firepower. And it's so unnecessary when we can live alongside them in peace."

Bill's argument was surely incontestable, I thought. Even I, whose knowledge of this world was largely derived from the internet and TV, could see that humans were far more advanced and dangerous to us than they had been in my short lifetime.

"Why should we have to! They could never defeat us!" growled Eric.

"Only a fool would believe that Eric. Do you seriously think that the people who invented the atomic bomb and put a man on the moon wouldn't be able to think up some way to wipe us out if they felt they had to? Of course they could!"

The Magister had been listening to this exchange with an interested expression but now he stood up and said "Enough! We seem to have moved away from our purpose here tonight. I think we have heard enough. It is time to pronounce our judgement. Lydia, would you speak first?"

Bill and Eric both turned to the platform and looked up at the single woman behind the table.

"Although I have much sympathy for Mr Compton's argument I have to say that I agree with Mr Northman." She said. "Mr Petrovic's failings seem to be in the field of human relations and therefore should not be of concern to this court."

The Magister turned to Ulrich. "Ulrich, what is your judgement?" he asked.

"I cannot agree I'm afraid. Mr Compton is right. We do have to consider the effect of our actions on humans. Mr Petrovic is a danger to them and is only likely to bring trouble upon us. He would be better kept out of harms way."

"Then the decision is mine" said the Magister. He sighed and said "Although I too have much sympathy with Mr Compton's position I have to agree with Lydia. Other than the attacks on Mr Compton and Mr Montague, for which a large fine will be levied, we have no authority to punish Mr Petrovic for attacks on humans. I feel we have no alternative than to free him."

I froze in my seat. We had failed! Lazlo was to be freed. What would happen to me now?

Eric smiled at Bill and stood up. "Lazlo" he called, holding out his hand. Lazlo grinned at him as the guard unbolted the bar from the chair and he stood up.

"I have a request to make" he said. "Since I am now free, I should like to have my Progeny returned to me."

Bill snarled. "No! Absolutely not!"

I leapt up from my seat and stood beside Bill. "You released me" I said. "I will never willingly return to you!"

As Bill took my hand in his I saw a faint blue light appear in the air in front of us. It appeared to spread into a shimmering blue curtain and a woman stepped out into the council chamber.

She wore a long white gown shot through with shimmering blues and greens. Glittering jewels in the same colours sparkled at her throat and wrists, the colours seeming to shift constantly and as she turned I saw that her eyes were of the same irridescent colours shifting to match her jewels. Her long silver hair flowed down her back and seemed to blend into the gown at her waist. She was the most beautiful and yet most alien looking woman I had ever seen and yet somehow, she looked familiar. I was sure that I had never seen her before but there was something...some likeness, the way she stood, the slanting angle of her eyes...

Eric moved towards her at once, fangs bared and she swept him away with a tiny gesture of her hand.

The three judges has stood up on the platform and she looked up at them calmly.

"Who are you?" asked the Magister "and what do you want with us?"

"I am Mab, the Winter Queen, the Queen of Air and Darkness" she said, the sound of her voice making the hairs stand up on my arms. "I have come to claim my granddaughter Azaria."

I stood frozen beside Bill. My grandmother? How was that possible?

"She is mine" snarled Lazlo.

Bill put his arm around my shoulders and said politely "she may be your kin Madam but she is vampire now. She belongs with us."

Mab looked directly at me and suddenly I saw my mother in her eyes. Those strange, alien eyes seemed to drive into my head and I knew exactly who she was and why she had come. I understood that she had thought me lost, centuries ago, and had come to ensure that Lazlo, who had stolen me from her, was punished. "It appears that you have a choice to make child. To come with me or to stay with one of these two."

I didn't hesitate for a second, I didn't even think about it. "I want to stay with Bill" I said.

Mab walked forward and regarded Bill with a new interest. "Who are you, vampire?" she asked. "Are you her Maker? do you care for her?"

"I am not her Maker, but yes, I care for her" said Bill quietly.

"I am her Maker!" said Lazlo. "She will come with me. I shall decide what she does in future. Anything you have to say should be said to me!"

Mab turned and examined him carefully. "Very well" she said. "Yes, indeed you are. You made her what she is, and you shall receive your reward."

As she spoke a haze appeared in the air behind Lazlo like smoke, or perhaps steam. As I watched two creatures stepped out behind him. They looked human, at least at first, but something was not quite right about them. As the haze began to clear I could see what it was. They were simply blank, unformed, like the clay figures sold in the markets of my childhood. They each took Lazlo by an arm. He gave a shriek and tried to pull away but he was unable to move. Where they held him the flesh began to steam. The smoke had appeared again behind them and they stepped back in unison pulling Lazlo effortlessly with them. When the smoke cleared again all three had vanished.

There was a shocked silence. "What happened to him?" asked Bill.

"I believe he found the touch of my servants was …... a little cold for his liking" said Mab. She stepped forwards towards Bill and stretched out her hand to his face. I saw him tense but he didn't move. I was not so brave and backed up a little so that I was slightly behind him, my hand on his waist.

"And what will happen to him now?" he asked.

She gave that cold smile again. "Your colleagues here have decided that, as a vampire, he has done nothing wrong. He will find me to be a harsher judge!"

She reached out again and her irridescent fingernails just brushed Bill's brow. I saw a few flakes of ice form in his hair but he stood his ground. She regarded him for a moment with her head on one side and then turned to me. "This one has a soldier's courage child. It is easy to be brave when you think you are the stronger" she glanced down at Eric. "But to be brave when you know you are the weaker? To stand before your friends to defend them when you know that you will lose …... that is true courage."

She smiled again and this time I thought I detected a faint trace of warmth. "You chose well!"

She stepped back and nodded to Bill. There was a flash of irridescent blue and green light and she was gone.

I flung my arms around Bill and hugged him fiercely. He smiled down at me and leaned down to plant a kiss on my forehead.

"Do you think we'll see him again?" I asked nervously.

"Somehow I don't think so." I said. "I suspect that Queen Mab intends to keep him for a while at least!"

He pulled Alex to him and hugged us both.

"Let's go home" he said.


End file.
